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Five Die in Brazilian Ferry Sinking

Published 8:00 pm, Tuesday, December 17, 2002

Associated Press Writer

An overcrowded ferry carrying hundreds of passengers sank Wednesday in the northern Amazon region, killing at least five people and leaving an unknown number missing.

At least 207 people, many of them wearing life preservers, swam to an island close to the site of the accident on the Para River about 25 miles south of Belem, said Sheila Faro, a spokeswoman for the Belem Port Authority.

Five bodies were found in the water after the early morning accident about 1,550 miles north of Sao Paulo.

At least five boats were still searching the area Wednesday afternoon. Authorities did not know how many people were aboard the Dom Luis XV-I when it sank.

The ferry made several unscheduled stops to pick up passengers. Media reports speculated that close to 300 people were aboard when the ferry sank. Officials said it had a capacity for 148 passengers.

Authorities did not know the cause of the accident.

The ferry started its trip in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, with 112 passengers, Faro said. It headed down the Amazon River and made a scheduled stop in Santarem in Para state, where 30 passengers disembarked and another 36 boarded.

But it was unclear how many passengers boarded during the unscheduled stops, Faro said.

"We have no idea at this moment how many passengers were on the ship when it sank," she said.